Billy-for your consideration:
1. What was the "content" of faith required to be believed during tMatthew-John, and "early" Acts?
bold is my emphasis):
"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth
thou art the Son of God." Mt. 14:33
"And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Mt. 16:16
(comment: and with the 16:18 "upon this rock" statement by the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour was setting the "foundation", i.e., the "rock", upon which the kingdom church, the "little flock" church(Luke 12:32 )would be built: their faith would rest upon the foundation that He was "
the Christ, the Son of the living God.")
"And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him,
Thou art the Christ." Mark 8:29
"He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said,
The Christ of God." Luke 9:20
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name." Jn. 1:12
"Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many
believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did." Jn. 2:23
"He that
believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Jn. 3:18
"And said unto the woman, Now
we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." Jn 4:42
"And we
believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." Jn. 6:69
"She saith unto him, Yea, Lord:
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." Jn. 11:27
"
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." Jn. 20:31
No change in the message in "early" Acts:
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both
Lord and Christ." Acts 2:36
"And his name
through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." Acts 3:16
"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole." Acts 4:10
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12
"And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to
teach and
preach Jesus Christ." Acts 4:42
"And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Acts 8:37
No change in the message by Paul,
early in his ministry, before he was progressively/gradually(i.e.,
progressive revelation:Acts 9:9,16; 22:10,16,17("trance"); 26:16; 1 Cor. 11:23; 2 Cor. 12:1 ; Gal. 2:2; Eph. 3:3; Col. 1:25; "But now"-Romans 16:26, Eph. 2:13, Col. 1:26 / notice Paul spent 3 years in Arabia per Galatians 1:17,18! 3 years! I find this amazing! Could that be Mt. Sinai? ) given the revelation of the mystery, from the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ, from heaven(not earth),and the prophetic program was progressively/gradually(but temporarily) set aside:
"And straightway he
preached Christ in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God." Acts 9:20
"But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving
that this is very Christ." Acts 9:22
Notice the change in Acts 13:
Paul presents the "outline" of 1 Cor. 15:1-4, the only gospel that will save in the current dispensation we are under :
Verse 13:28:"And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he
should be slain." = the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ
Verse 13:29: "And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and
laid him in a sepulchre."=the
burial of the Lord Jesus Christ
Verse 13:30: "But God
raised him from the dead:..." =the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ
And notice the gradual change in the message, as Paul boldly states:
"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13:38,39
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2. Perhaps what I had written earlier will edify/teach:
Another "space walk" that results from failure to rightly divide this Holy Bible, is the idea that there is only one gospel in the Bible. The word gospel simply means "good news." Still, the best way to show that there is more than one "gospel" in the Bible is to let the Holy Bible show it.
Paul's gospel Rom. 16:25,
1 Cor. 15:1-4- Present dispensation-Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day
Gospel of the Kingdom Mt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14; Mark 1:14
Gospel of the circumcision Gal. 3:7
Gospel of the uncircumcision Gal. 3:7
Eternal gospel Rev. 14:6-7
Gospel of Rest- Heb. 4:2
Abraham's Gospel- Gal. 3:8
Gospel of God (Gospel of Prophecy)- Rom. 1:1-3
2Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (KJV)
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Regarding the term "gospel":the term "THE GOSPEL" needs to be qualified within its dispensational setting.
Paul was commissioned to preach the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of Christ, that was revealed to him from the risen, ascended, glorified, Lord Jesus Christ from heaven by revelation. This was his calling from the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the only "good news that will save ayone in this dispensationfrom the penalty, power, and presence from sin(salvation and justification, sanctification, glorification). This gospel is summarized in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. But this is not "the gospel of the kingdom"-these are not equivalent or synonymous.
The Lord Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry, the apostles, and the disciples all preached "the gospel of the kingdom". "Gospel" means "good news", but there is more than one "gospel" in scripture, and, as previously mentioned, the confusion in Christianity results from the failure to understand the absolute necessity of "rightly dividing the word of truth"(2 Tim. 2:15), mainly failing to distinguish between the prophetic program as revealed in the Old Testament, and the Mystery Program that was revealed to Paul.
Nowhere in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will you find 1 Cor. 15;1-4 being preached as the "good news", the basis for our salvation and justification. Nowhere.
Consider this. You cannot preach what you do not know. You cannot believe that which you do not know.
During the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, the apostles and disciples had no knowledge of his impending, death, burial, and resurrection:
"From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee" Mt. 16:21,22
"And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him." Mark 8:31,32
(Comment: Obviously, Peter was attempting to prevent the Lord's death! If the death, burial, and resurrection was the grounds for Peter's salvation and justification(as Paul expounds on in his epistles), why was Peter trying to prevent the very thing that would be the basis for his justification? See also John 18:10. Did he ever preach 1 Cor. 15:1-4? If he had, his rebuke of the Lord would be a non-sensical reaction!)
"For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him." Mark 9:31,32
"Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." Luke 18:31-34
"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day...." Luke 24:45,46
"For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead." John 20:9
(Comment: Notice they did not know it or understand it prior to His death! They were not preaching 1 Cor. 15:1-4).
Even after the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection, they intially did not believe it:
"And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted." Mt. 28:17
"And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." Mark 16:11
"And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." Luke 24:9-11
" And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?" Luke 24:41
Many(most?) presume/assume, and yes, embrace the prevalent, but erroneous view, that there is only one gospel in scripture. The fact that the message of the cross is not part of the "gospel of the kingdom" does not mean that the Lord jesus Christ's death was not the critical event. And no one has ever been, nor ever will be, saved apart from the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is an altogether different matter to contend/argue that it was the contents of one and the same gospel throughout the Holy Bible. Christ's death was the central event, but that fact was not always part of the content or message(a discussion of progressive revelation would be beyond the scope of this message). Indeed, during the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, the "gospel of the kingdom", the good news" of the approaching Davidic, Messianic kingdom("...as the days of heaven upon the earth...." Deut. 11:24), which was the subject of Old Testament prophecy concerning the restoration of earth with Jesus Christ ruling in righteousness, was preached:
"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." Mt. 4:23
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." Mt. 10:5-8
"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15
And yet, as shown previously, the disciples and apostles understood absolutely nothing of the cross and resurrection. Any honest read of scripture must come to this conclusion. So, how can anyone say that they "...preached Christ crucified...." 1 Cor. 1:23), or 1 Cor. 15:1-4, as Paul did? This is impossible, if we assume reasoning is a legitimate tool. Only later, through Paul's apostle ship, was the cross revealed as the central theme of the gospel(again, the discussion for the reasons for this are beyond the scope of this article).
In Christ and with Christ,
John M. Whalen
